The Bolingbroke

The Bolingbroke knows its market and targets it well: children. Possibly even run by very clever, high-achieving children like those who run Haribo, Cheerios and that toilet paper company I can't now remember. Hell, even the home page of the website shows a pair of children reaching for a plate of muffins. The “pub & dining room” element has been firmly kicked to the bottom of the agenda. It didn't bother me too much on my visit as we were here at lunchtime and sat up on high bar stools out of the reach of any sticky fingers (although I should say the children are all very well behaved and surely well drilled in stranger danger so unlikely to accost anyone). Mummy's helping hand has clearly been roped in on the decor: elegant, grown up muted greens (very soothing colour for kids apparently), wooden floors (wipe clean), and big windows (plenty of light for colouring by). Shame they didn't get mummy's nanny/chef into the kitchen. Whilst my chips were smoking hot, the steak in my steak sandwich was lukewarm; and although it had good flavour and was beautifully pinkly cooked, it was a bit chewy in places and extremely difficult to bite through. I caused such a mess with bits flopping out onto my plate or down my chin (bring that girl a bib!) that I ended up deconstructing the sandwich and eating it with my knife and fork. Although we are old enough to drink alcohol (twice over), we stuck to cokes as we needed clear post-lunch heads, so I can't comment on the range/quality of booze, a key element in most boozers, though perhaps not this one. Service was friendly and food/drink was reasonably priced. The Bolingbroke is very pleasant but not somewhere I'd highly recommend, unless of course you are a yummy mummy of Nappy Valley (or her adorable offspring) in which case it is right up your street.

I'm suprised to see negative reviews about the food, although I have only eaten once so maybe I was lucky! Myself and a friend visited on Easter sunday for a roast lunch, we had prebooked our table online and were happy to find we had been seated in a little alcove, very cosy but not too small. We ordered a Chilian Cabernet Sauvignon which was delicious and very easy drinking, we didnt have starters but both our roasts were cooked to perfection, I had the lamb and he had the beef, both with all the trimmings, tender and delicious. Despite being quite full we couldnt resist the desert menu and Im glad we didnt, the chocolate fondant with honey ice cream was perfect for a chocoholic like myself, although it was large enough that it could have been shared too, he had the cheese cake with blueberrys- apparently very good also. The staff were friendly and attentive, and great with all the kids (there were a lot so if you dont like them dont come!). The bill seemed reasonable for the quality and amount of food. We're looking forward to going back.

Excellent location. Excellent layout, great atmosphere. However the food is not so good. We had lunch there last weekend and were very disappointed. The burger was overcooked, the goats cheese salad comes with only one tiny slice of goats cheese tucked under a mound of leaves on the plate – not very good value for money. Many fellow customers were complaining about the inadequacy of the cheeseboard and various other choices they'd made. On previous visits we experienced the toughest, most grisly steak we'd ever been presented with in London and a slice of (still) frozen herb butter on an otherwise average piece of fish. Service is fine but can be surly. This place has great potential but is let down massively by poor food and very mean portions. Standards need to improve!

Although this restaurant has a great atmosphere the food is distinctly average. I was part of a group of 6. I had the salmon with risotto and it was the smallest salmon fillet I have ever been served. I tried the steak which another person had ordered and it was quite bland. I probably would go back for drinks as the atmosphere was good shame about the food.